Developmental Play is an innovative approach to working with children, building strong foundations in sensory and embodied play, up to imaginative and social play. It’s suited to children with special needs, but it can also be applied to children in mainstream education.
It trains adults who work with children, so that it can have the widest reach among those children who will benefit from it the most.
The 1st International Developmental Play Conference was held to launch the approach among teachers, clinicians and parents in Manila in the Philippines, and was organised by CreateCATT and Kaleidoscope Therapy Center.
Over the course of two days in April 2019, 200 eager participants engaged in activities and training workshops with 22 presenters. They learned, the danced, they created, they built, they shared, they splashed, they made a mess, they made friends, they inspired each other and above all, they played. Coming from the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Australia, Bangladesh, Singapore, and the UK they listened to keynote speakers from the PEDAL Institute at Cambridge University, Six Bricks, and UNICEF; and they learned with workshop leaders from the Philippines, India, South Africa, Cambodia and the UK.
The two days of workshops also functioned as the practicum element of Level One of the Certificate in Developmental Play, qualifying several participants to move up to Level 2 and Level 3 as practitioners.
For 2020 and beyond, CreateCATT is in discussions to run further International Developmental Play Conferences in India and Vietnam.
For information on Developmental Play and future conferences, visit www.developmentalplay.com
4 June 2019
